Chapter One
In Which There Is An Unexpected Arrival

Bob's temper was reaching the breaking point. "Spammit, Cecil, I've been waiting for milliseconds!"

Cecil ignored him. "Please, Cecil! I just want an energy shake!"

Cecil sniffed and turned away. "For the love of the User, Cecil, how much polishing do those glasses need?"

"Bob?" came a voice from his wrist.

"What?! Oh, hi, Turbo. Sorry about that," said Bob, taking a deep breath to calm down. "What's processing?"

"Uh… you okay?" said Turbo, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's nothing. Just problems with the service," added Bob, glaring at Cecil.

"No trouble lately?"

"Just residual. There was some street fighting over in G-Prime. Ex-virals. I got 'em calmed down. Other than that, everything's been pretty quiet."

"Good." Turbo looked relieved. "I'll make it quick, Bob. I'm sending you a cadet for some on-the-job training. She'll be staying with you for two minutes."

Bob stared at the tiny image in the centre of Glitch's gearwheel. "What? Why?"

"She's kinda, well, rambunctious. Shows promise, but she's getting to be a bit much for us. We thought some time in the field would help her burn off some energy, and I know you'll be able to handle her."

"What makes you think I'll be able to - ?"

"Bobby!"

Bob spun around just in time for the leaping figure to hit him in the chest instead of the back. Together they went crashing to the ground. All this he was used to, but this sprite was considerably bigger than Enzo, and immediately hugged him hard enough to squeeze out what breath still remained to him. Finally, the sudden arrival released him and asked, "How's it going, Brown-Eyes?"

"Vv… Vvv…" panted Bob, staring at the petite lavender sprite kneeling on his stomach. "Val?"

"Surprise!" grinned Val, brushing her shiny golden hair out of her eyes.

"Val!" Bob grinned widely and struggled to sit up. "I haven't seen you in days! How's my little Goldilocks? What are you, 11 now?"

"Bob!" Bob and Val both turned to look at the doorway. Three green sprites were staring at them. The smallest detached himself from the group and ran over. "Hey! You're in my spot!"

"Ohhh no you don't!" retorted Bob. "There isn't room for both of you!" He gently dislodged Val and stood up, brushing himself off. "Hi, guys. This is my cousin Val. Val, this my girlfriend, Dot Matrix…"

Val winked at Bob. "Well, it's about time! Nice to meet you," she added, shaking Dot's hand enthusiastically.

"Likewise," said Dot, smiling bemusedly.

"Dot's the Command.com of Mainframe," Bob informed Val.

"Hey, good job, Brown-Eyes!"

Bob grinned and rolled his eyes. "Yeeeah. And this is her little brother Enzo…"

"Hi," said Enzo, eyeing her uniform with envy. Val answered him with a nod and a grin.

"And this is… well… also her little brother Enzo." This earned Bob a perplexed look. "There was a temporal anomaly. Long story."

"Call me Matrix," said the giant, completely enveloping Val's hand in his own.

"Where's AndrAIa?" asked Bob.

Matrix scowled. "Down on Level 6, lookin' at bikes."

"Ooh! Can I go?" exclaimed Val, bouncing excitedly.

"But you just got here!"

"Yeah, I know, but bikes are cool. Ooh, a jukebox!" She darted past the stunned sprites. Enzo wandered after her, fascinated.

"Gosh," said Dot. "She's a little intense, isn't she?"

"Let's see… ‘B.S. 'n' P.'… ‘Upload to Heaven'…"

Bob nodded. "This is amazing!" he said, half to himself. "I haven't seen her since I was at the Academy. She wasn't even 01 then. Real smart, though. We kept in touch, but not since…" He sighed.

"Ooh! Here's a good one! ‘Fest Evil 1001'!"

"I know." Dot patted him on the shoulder. "What's she doing here, anyway?"

"Is there a volume control on this thing?"

"Turbo sent her for on-the-job training."

"It's on the back."

Matrix raised an eyebrow. "Training? Here?"

"Oof. You're smaller than me. See if you can reach it."

"Like Dot said, she's a little intense. The Academy want her out of their hair for a while. And she's my cousin, so…" He shrugged.

"I see," said Dot. "Even so, it's a bit short notice!"

"I know, but it's okay! There's room in my apartment! Heck, after the beds in the Academy dormitory, she'll probably be comfortable sleeping on the floor!"

"Oh, for…!" Matrix stomped over to Val, who was dancing around and singing at the top of her voice, and clapped a massive hand over her mouth. He dragged her backwards to the jukebox, which he pulled away from the wall with his free hand, revealing a startled Enzo. Matrix wrenched the volume knob all the way to the left. Then he picked up Enzo by the collar and raised him until they were face to face. "Do you mind?" he demanded.

He lowered the trembling child to the floor and released his grip on Val's face, then returned to Bob and Dot. "Please tell me I wasn't really like that."

Bob smiled. "Wow, Matrix! Your social skills are really improving!"

Dot looked skeptical. "You think so?"

"Hey, a few hours ago, he would've shot the jukebox."

Dot suppressed a smile. "So, anyway, how long will she be here?"

"Couple of minutes."

"What'll you do with her?"

"Well, like I said, she's here for training, but there won't be much to do until a Game shows up. So I guess I'll just show her around Mainframe. Give her a tour of Kits, Baudway, maybe…"

"Hey Bobby Enzo and I are heading over to Floating Point to go circuit racing okay see ya!"

The trio whirled around in time to see a lavender-and-blue blur snatch up a duffel bag on its way out the door to where Enzo was waiting on his zipboard. Before anyone could call after them, they were already out of earshot.

"Oh, no! Dot, can you go after them?"

"I've got some accounts to go over. Why can't you?"

Bob sighed. "I'm too tired. I never did get that energy shake. I'd never catch up with them."

"Matrix?"

"Aw, Sis…"

Bob gave him a pleading look. "Matrix, those two need supervision. We'll let AndrAIa know where you've gone. You can take Val to my apartment when they're done."

Matrix grunted. "Alphanumeric," he muttered, and stormed out after the two younger sprites.

Dot and Bob gazed in the direction of Floating Point Park for a while. Dot broke the silence. "She's a cadet? She seems a bit… frivolous."

"Hey, they took me, didn't they?"

"Point."

"Besides, her parents thought the Academy might teach her some discipline."

Dot gave him a look. "Bob... you graduated from the Academy."

"I know."

"What were they thinking?"

"Haven't a clue."

Chapter Two

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